The Way We Will Be
by WritelkeUmeanit
Summary: He broke up with her in Dooses. She fell apart. The town has to pick: pink or blue? She can't take it. She calls Luke. He gets her message. He comes running. One-shot.


_One-shot. S5. He broke up with her in Dooses Market. She fell apart. The town has to pick: pink or blue? She can't take it. She calls Luke. He gets her message. He comes running. _

Enjoy! :D

**The Way We Will Be**

_Crapshack_

Lorelai was lying in bed, her face stained with salty water, her dark hair a mess and barely a drop of makeup covered her face; most had washed away from the day's worth of tears. She wore sweats and an old top; it was a shirt she's owned for years that managed to snake its way into her pajama drawer somewhere along the line. Her room was filled with snacks, videos, magazines and tissues. Somehow Frank squeezed the T.V from the living room into the space between her vanity and her sewing table. Everything she could possibly need was within reach. Everything but Luke.

Lorelai sighed at the thought while her eyes strayed to the phone that sat on her nightstand. She reached out for the device, but stopped before her fingertips could reach it. Lorelai closed her eyes, tucked her scattered locks behind her ears, and then she dared to look back at the phone. Lorelai reached a tentative hand for the cordless and this time she didn't pull back. She grasped the phone between her fingers and took a breath before dialing the all too familiar number.

It rang three times. Then his voice mail sounded.

_Not here. Leave a message._

_Beep!_

"Hey, Luke, it's me. I know I'm not supposed to be calling, but I am not doing really great right now and-" Lorelai paused while taking an unsteady breath as she tried to collect herself. "I was just wondering, if- do you remember in 'The Way We Were' how Katie and Hubbell broke up because his friends were joking and laughing and the president had just died, and she yelled at them and he was mad and he was going out to Hollywood, and, I mean, which she hated, and he broke up with her and she was really upset. And she called him and asked if he would come over and sit with her because he was her best friend and she needed her best friend, and he did. And they talked all night, and they went out to Hollywood, which was a disaster, but it was good at first. With the boat, and uh, putting the books away. I've seen this movie a lot, so if you don't remember the putting the books away scene, don't' feel stupid or anything. I was just sitting here thinking about it, because I, um, I'm in my house and I was just, uh… could- please come over. I-please. Really need to see you and talk to you, and please-come over. Please," she begged before hanging up quickly.

Lorelai snapped her eyes closed while dropping the phone to the bed beside her legs. Tears welled in her eyes as she thought back to the movie. She's seen 'The Way We Were' too many times to count. She and the film had a bittersweet relationship; the heartbreaking love story never failed to make her laugh and cry and smile. But now that her reality somewhat mirrored the classic fantasy, she thought 'never again.' She didn't want to see the movie ever again. She didn't want to end up like Katie. She already lost the man she loved and she couldn't bare the thought of marrying some other guy who would play daddy to a kid that wasn't his- not that Lorelai was pregnant, but the whole prospect of Hubbell and Katie's terrible situation becoming her life, it scared her. She didn't want to lose her best friend. She didn't want to be with someone else.

"Stupid movie," Lorelai muttered while lowering her head to the pillow. She turned on her side but regretted the move when she was met with an empty spot next to her- Luke's spot.

More often than not, they used to stay at Luke's place with his early deliveries and all but the few nights they did spend at the crapshack, Luke always slept on the left side of the bed; it was the same way at his place too. The arrangement worked out well because Lorelai most always slept on the right side. They never had much of a problem with meshing their sleeping habits. At first, Luke's snoring bothered Lorelai and the man had to get used to falling asleep with The Late Show playing in the background, but soon enough Luke's snoring became somewhat of a lullaby to Lorelai and the t.v was always kept low until Luke fell asleep. Lorelai agreed, knowing it took him two minutes to reach beddy bye land and so for 120 seconds, she watched a muted T.V while rubbing soothing circles over her man's belly. Once he was out, he was dead to the world and Lorelai boosted the volume while enjoying all that late night T.V had to offer. When she was ready to call it a night, she'd flip the T.V off, settle on her side, drape Luke's arm over her hip, and bury her face in her pillow while closing her eyes. Almost every night she'd feel Luke pull her a little closer, his arm tightening around her waist. The move made her smile; the thought of her big, strong man holding her protectively from the world made her happy. And soon enough she'd fall asleep to the steady sounds of his mild snores.

Now, while lying in bed, Lorelai reached an arm out to the empty space beside her. She swayed her hand back and forth across the sheet as a few tears trickled down her cheek. She couldn't help but cry; the thought that Luke would never fill the space next to her again, it made her sad. But just as quickly as sadness filled her, anger washed over her body. She turned pissed in a second after thinking that the situation was her mother's fault; Emily Gilmore was to blame for her broken down, depressive state. Her mother split them up. Her mother was the reason Luke would hate her forever. It was all her doing. The thought made Lorelai furious.

"Damn it," Lorelai cursed out of frustration while hastily wiping the tears from her face.

"Never again. Never, ever again," she vowed, promising herself that she'd never see her mother again. Or Christopher. Sure, her mother was the one who poisoned the apple and gave it to dopey to bring to the party, but dopey still played along. Dopey came, got drunk, and then shot his mouth off about things he didn't know anything about. He made Luke leave; it was his fault too.

Lorelai rolled to her back and her eyes followed to the ceiling. She stared at the white paint for a minute before pushing up on her hands and leaning against the headboard. She couldn't' stand the silence anymore; it was louder than a screaming infant. So she swiped the remote from the nightstand and flicked on the T.V, having decided to give the television another whirl.

"Lorelai! Where are you?! Are you okay?!" A deep voice suddenly boomed through the house.

The Gilmore panicked while flicking off the T.V. She dropped the remote before nervously tucking her hair behind her ear. Before she could do anything else, thuds echoed up the stairs. Not a second later and familiar footsteps were rounding their way into her room.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt? Did something happen?"

Lorelai didn't need to look up to know that it was Luke standing in her doorway. She released a shaky breath while gently shaking her head.

"You're okay? I mean physically, you're okay?" he asked, wanting to make sure.

Wordlessly, Lorelai nodded while avoiding his eyes.

Luke sighed a breath of relief. "Jeez, scared me to death," he mumbled.

"Sorry," Lorelai apologized meekly.

"Don't be sorry, I just…" the words stopped when Luke noticed his surroundings. The room he saw was crowded with junk food and movies and magazines and then he spotted the T.V that should have been in the living room. "Can I do something?" he asked helplessly. "Do you need anything? Ice cream isn't dinner," he pointed out gruffly after noticing the almost full bowl that sat on her nightstand.

"I'm not hungry," Lorelai said quietly.

"You need to eat something. Real food. I'll make you a burger," he said without question while turning for the door.

"Luke," she called.

He stopped while turning to her. "Yeah?"

Lorelai finally looked up to meet his gaze and Luke couldn't help but frown at her dull, red eyes. She'd been crying.

"Are you sad about us?" she asked. "Or is it just me?"

Luke shook his head and through a rough voice said, "you're not the only one who hasn't eaten."

Lorelai nodded while looking back to her lap. "This wasn't supposed to happen to us," she murmured quietly. "We weren't supposed to end up like Katie and Hubbell."

"Lorelai-"

"No, Luke, I get it. I understand. It's too much for you. It's too complicated. I get it."

A moment of silence passed before Luke said, "Do you want soup? Or do you want a burger? I can run to the diner and make you one."

"Soup is fine."

"Okay, I'll be back in a minute."

And with the sound of Luke's boots slapping against the stairs, Lorelai sank down to her pillow. She pulled the covers to her chest while closing her eyes and curling to her side.

Not two minutes passed before Lorelai could hear Luke hurrying up to the second floor. She opened her eyes instantly, but didn't move. She didn't even turn her head when Luke lowered a bowl full of homemade chicken noodle soup to her nightstand.

"Thank you," Lorelai said, her voice just barely loud enough for him to hear.

"You should eat it before it gets cold."

"Okay," Lorelai agreed, though she didn't budge.

Not five seconds passed before Luke sighed.

"Lorelai, please, eat," he begged.

"I will if you will."

"Fine," he said before turning around and heading for the stairs.

When he came back to the room a moment later with a bowl for himself, he found Lorelai sitting up in bed.

"I'll take this with me, okay? But not until you start eating."

"You can eat here."

"What?"

"You can eat with me," she offered while scooting over to make room for him. "Can't we eat together like we used to? Like when we were friends?" she asked while looking at him with tiny specs of hope lighting her eyes.

"We should go down stairs," he said through a frown while pointing to the hall.

"No, here is good. Come on, sit. Please," she added while patting the spot.

Luke sighed, but he gave in. He put the bowl down next to hers, unzipped his jacket, threw it to the chair, and then sat above the covers next to her.

"Here," he said while passing her bowl to her. "You agreed," he reminded her.

"You first," she said while nudging her chin at his bowl.

"We're not five," Luke grumbled.

"Someone has to go first," she reasoned.

"Fine," Luke said before spooning some liquid and a bite of chicken, then carrying the food to his mouth. While chewing, he pointed his spoon at her bowl.

Lorelai picked up her utensil and used the spoon to twirl the chicken and noodles around the small bowl.

"I'm really not hungry," she said a moment later, the words quiet.

"You're always hungry," he countered.

"I'm not now. I haven't been all day. I can't even watch T.V," she murmured sadly. "I haven't gotten out of bed. Thank God I haven't needed to go to the bathroom, you know? Or that would've ruined my couch potato day. Or in this case, bed potato," she went on. "It's just-this wasn't supposed to happen," she said as suddenly tears welled in her eyes. "Rory knew, Rory knew it would; she tried to stop it. She told him to stay away. She warned me, but I didn't listen. I should've listened. If I listened, you wouldn't be here right now, trying to force feed me soup you made a month ago and put in my freezer incase I ran out of leftovers or didn't feel like ordering pizza and you couldn't come over. We weren't supposed to break up," she cried through dripping tears.

Luke quickly put his bowl down and then he reached for hers. Once their hands were free, he molded his palms around her cheeks, wiping her tears away with his thumbs.

"Don't cry," Luke begged in just above a whisper.

Lorelai pulled his wrists from her face while saying, "my fault."

"Not your fault," Luke argued gruffly.

"I screwed it up," Lorelai continued. "I always screw it up. I ruin it every time and now I ruined it with you. I promised myself I wouldn't do this; I wasn't gonna ruin it this time, but I did. They won. We're not together anymore. I'll die alone; they'll be no one to find the body. She won."

Luke watched helplessly as Lorelai spoke through her tears. A part of him wanted to wrap his arms around her, kiss her and tell her everything's gonna be okay. He wanted to say he was being stupid before; he wanted her back. He wanted to be with her. But he couldn't do that. He knew it was too much for him. But while watching Lorelai fall to pieces, he wished more than anything that he could have realized it was too much before they even got together. He hated that she was upset over him. It broke his heart.

"You should go," Lorelai said while wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry I called you. I know I can't do that anymore."

Luke shook his head and said, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm here until you're okay."

"Well, then pull up a pillow 'cause it's gonna be a long night."

"I don't care."

"No, you have to care," Lorelai refused stubbornly. "We're not together anymore. You can't just stay here with me because I'm upset, because you feel bad for me. Thank you for coming over, but please, go," she begged.

"I can't leave you like this."

"Luke, please just-"

"If you're not hungry, fine, but you should at least try and sleep. You need to sleep," he said firmly.

"I'm not tired."

"Yes you are. I can see it in your eyes. You're drained, Lorelai," he said softly while tucking a wild curl behind her ear.

Lorelai closed her eyes while taking a breath. "You shouldn't do that."

"Do what?"

"Touch me."

"Oh, sorry," Luke said while taking his hand from her hair.

Lorelai took a moment to gather herself before confessing, " I guess maybe I am a little tired."

"Yeah," Luke agreed, his voice gentle. "I know."

"You can go. I'll go to sleep; you don't have to worry."

"I can stay," Luke offered. "You know, until you fall asleep."

"You don't have to do that."

"I know, but I want to. You know, if you want me to."

Lorelai nodded. "I do."

"Okay, then I'm staying."

"Okay," Lorelai said while tossing the remote to the foot of the bed. "You can take your boots off. You know, if you're gonna be here a while. You can get semi comfortable. I think there's a pair of your sweats in my drawer if you want to change," she offered.

"No, I'm okay, but I'm sorry they're here; I'll take them when I go."

"No, don't," she said quickly.

"What?" Luke asked confusedly.

"Don't take them. Please. I just- I want them here. I want a piece of you here with me. I don't know, maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and change my mind but for tonight, for right now, I want your sweats to stay next to mine. I want your blue flannel in my closet. I want your shaving cream in my bathroom. I want your razor in my shower. I want your toolbox in my living room. I want your spatula in my kitchen. I want your shovel in my garage… all of those things, they're a part of you. I want to keep whatever part of you I can. Please, Luke, don't take them," she begged.

Luke's eyes widened a bit at how much she wanted his stuff there. "Okay, I'll leave them here."

"Thank you."

Luke nodded while swinging his legs over the edge of the bed to kick off his boots.

"I'll just go close all the lights and everything downstairs. I'll be right back," he promised.

"Okay."

Luke went through the first floor quickly, turning off lights and unplugging unnecessary appliances as he went. After locking the back door, he headed back upstairs to find Lorelai lying in the dark. A small slant of light from the bathroom filtered into the room, the glow just enough for Luke to see Lorelai staring straight ahead at her closet. Her cheek was molded to her pillow and the blanket rested around her waist.

"Lay with me?" a small voice requested.

Luke blinked away from his daze and looked down to nod at Lorelai. He got into bed carefully, keeping the covers beneath him as he lowered his head to the pillow. He turned to glance at Lorelai who was watching him as he folded his hands over his belly.

"Goodnight, Luke," Lorelai whispered a moment later.

"Goodnight, Lorelai," he returned hoarsely.

The Gilmore sighed a breath before closing her eyes. And with that, the room grew quiet. For nearly five minutes, Luke laid in silence with his stare glued to the ceiling. But he peaked at the girl beside him every now and then, just as she did when he wasn't looking. She would open her eyes just long enough to confirm his presence, and then close her eyelids before he could look at her.

More than an hour passed before Lorelai's deep, even breathing let Luke know that she finally fell asleep. At first he thought about leaving since that was the deal, but then after ten minutes of contemplation, he decided to stay. He wanted to be there incase she needed him, incase she woke up.

Somewhere in the back of her unconscious mind, Lorelai must have known Luke never left her side because not once did she wake up. Nightmares didn't fill her dreams. She slept pretty soundly, much to Luke's relief. And around 2 a.m, when a sleeping Lorelai reached her arm to his belly, Luke smiled; he couldn't help it. He twined his fingers through hers and held her hand the rest of the night.

_XOX_

When the time reached six a.m and the sun was just starting to cross the horizon, carefully and slowly, Luke slid out of bed. He got up, walked across the room, and then swiped a piece of paper from her sewing table. One side of it had a list of movies; Luke guessed they were films she wanted to see with Rory. With that paper being the only piece Luke could find in the room, he grabbed the pen that sat next to her, flipped the sheet over, then began to write.

_XOX_

The clock read 6:27 when Lorelai woke up. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and then she glanced to her left and after finding an empty spot beside her, it all came flooding back. Katie and Hubbell, the soup, the pants, Luke. He was there. And she had a feeling he stayed even after she fell asleep.

"Luke," Lorelai breathed.

The Gilmore made the mistake of looking to her side again and after being met with Luke's vacated spot, a fresh round of tears boiled in her eyes. She didn't like that she'd been a crying machine for the past day. She hated it with a passion.

"No more; no more crying," Lorelai asserted determinedly before taking a deep breath and wiping her eyes. She nodded firmly at her words while sitting up against the headboard.

After another calming breath, Lorelai reached to the end of the bed for the forgotten remote when she found a note lying over her legs. With her curiosity peaked, Lorelai picked up the piece of paper and brought it closer to read. She recognized Luke's hand writing instantly.

**Lorelai-**

**I know I never told you this and I know it's crappy timing, but I love you, Lorelai. Have for a while and I always will. **

**I'll always be around, okay? If you need me or anything, just say the word and I'm there. Together or not, I still care about you. **

**Just thought you should know that. **

**Oh, and your breakfast is downstairs. Everything you usually order is on a plate next to the coffee machine. I'll come by later with some lunch and that plate better be cleared. **

**Luke. **

The no crying thing was thrown out the window just like that. While reading Luke's note, salty water clouded Lorelai's vision; when she reached the end, a smile tugged at her lips at his warning.

"Oh, Luke," Lorelai sighed as her tears fell freely. "Even after we've broken up, you're still my knight in shining flannel… you're just… I love you too, Luke. I love you so much."

_The End_

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